Worm counts, who don't do them, why not

How good was your friends sample taking for the worm count? Like all tests they are not 100% accurate-what was the previous worming history?
 
I have been worm counting mine for the past year, so far results have always come back as being worm free. I wormed them before christmas for bots, tapes and encysted small reds anyway as these aren't shown by the test. They are in a stable herd and the fields get poo-picked nearly every day. I did think this was a pretty good system though this thread has got me worrying now!
 
I started egg counting last year.
All counts came back clean so I only wormed for tapeworm.
Just got the latest count back with 4200 eggs per gram!
I have always poo picked the field clean every week. I suspect previous tests missed the redworm (think I tested too early in the season before).
 
She told her to continue to worm for tapeworm twice a year at the correct time then worm count the rest of the time. We're just waiting on some results actually then the horses who need worming will be done.

This is what I do. All mine have very low worm counts. I dont like to fill my horses full of chemicals just for the hell of it unless absolutely necessary.
 
Little-critter if you only wormed for tapeworm what about encysted? Hence where your high Reading came from? They came out and gave u a high Reading as u hadn't wormed for them. so if you only wormed for tape what about encysted, bots, pinworm which the count wont do or aren't accurate
 
I honestly think and this is only my opinion, but I think horses will end up with more worms due to worm counts. Owners using them thinking it's a true reflection off the worms etc in their horse. As stated a lot off people only worm for bots but what about the other worms it don't pick up on? You may think it's ok my horse has a low count but unknown to you the worms that the count don't cover could be getting worst.
Just my thinking
 
Our yard does worm counts for peace of mind, they are wormed for the ones that don't show up.
My horses showed no signs of worms but after I moved to my yard now we had the count done and the ones that had moved were full of worms. Next time we have a count I can have the peace of mind of knowing they are worm free :)
 
I suppose that's partly my bugbear, one low <50 epg does in no way mean your horses are worm free.

1) A worm, when in a horse does not produce eggs at a consistent rate, they have a sort of a circadian rhythm thing going on and produce eggs in batches, this produces aggregation in the faeces.

2) you are taking a small sample of faeces, you therefore might miss all/some of the eggs, there is a high risk of owner error! albeit not intentionally.

From a resistance point of view it would be great to have an untreated horse in each herd to act as refugia, unfortunately that has welfare implications ;).

I must also correct my self from earlier saying that encysted reds and tapes are more pathogenic than pins and bots, tapes aren't really.
 
Our yard do worm counts & have for a couple of years now, we have just done it & yet again my haflinger has got worms EVERYTIME we do them he comes back with signs of worms :rolleyes:
 
What hasn't been mentioned so far is that there is known and tested resistance in certain worming chemical groups. It is very likely that in time resistance will be more widespread, and if we're not careful we're going to end up without any effective wormers. At the moment there aren't any new grups being developed.

I think hore owners need to be educated more on worming, and yes I do think Worm Counts are a useful tool. However, owners need to be made more aware of their limitations and not rely on them fully.

Likewise owners need to ensure that when they do worm they give the horse a full dosage and not underdose like I've heard of people doing, as this will very quickly allow for the worms to build up resistance. This may well mean buying two syringes for the owners of bigger horses.

There are draw backs, already mentioned in the thread, but they can be limited. Chemical worming cannot be totally avoided, we still need to worm for Encysted Redworm December time, and Tapeworm in around October. I use Equest for the Encysted Redworm, this also covers pinworms and Bots which don't show on the tests and a dose of Equitape for the Tapeworm. There are of course other wormers you could use.

I will worm count through summer, March, June and September. The Small Redworm is the most common worm in adult horses, it's these that chemical worming programmes are targetted at through summer months. Worm Counts taken accurately are very good guidance for this. I am that mad person with dung in a bucket, mixing it up to try and get a more accurate sample. I intend to get a sacrificial blender as well.

In March two of my horses came back with <50epg readings and the other <100epg. They live in a closed herd of well managed pasture, the four year old had the higher reading. With such low readings none needed worming. They'd been wormed over winter for tapeworm and Encysted redworm. The experts I've been in contact with agree with this.

Worm Counts aren't perfect, I'm not saying they are. But at the moment they're the best tool we've got in the battle against widespread resistance. So until a more reliable method is developed, it's the best we've got and used wisely it's useful.

This ^ because if we are not careful we will end up with NO effective wormers. This has already happened in the sheep industry in NZ and is well on it's way to happening here in the UK.
 
The other issue with WCs is that worm eggs aggregate in the faeces, so to avoid false 'low' counts you need to take an entire heap of dung, blend it, then take a sample from that. If worm eggs were evenly distributed through the dung this issue would not arise. The WC companies never mention this, and I don't understand why.

I don't worm count. You need to do it over a long period of time to get representative results. I poo pick regularly and keep the horse in a stable herd so I simply worm on a reduced chemical cycle.

I use Intelligent Worming and you have to take 5 samples from different places in one pile of fresh dung this sampling method has recently changed so I think it shows they are responding to veterinary research and advice. But then they do a proper programme based on your horses management and history. My horse has been on a programme for two years now and when I asked why he wasn't yet low-risk they explained about the 2 year cycle that it can take for encysted redworms to emerge.

Personally I wouldn't do worm counts without the additional support and advice and reminders about when to WC or treat at the correct times because there is more to it than just taking a poo sample.
 
Top